WinInfo Short Takes, June 1, 2012

I thought I had a handle on all the new stuff in the Windows 8 Release Preview—indeed, you can check out my 16 new articles about this release, with more coming today, on the SuperSite for Windows—but Microsoft surprised me by slipping one in under my radar: Internet Explorer (IE) 10, part of Windows 8, will be the first browser to ship with Do Not Track functionality embedded and enabled by default. “We believe in putting people first,” Microsoft’s Chief Privacy Officer Brendon Lynch noted in a blog post. “Consumers should have more control over how information about their online behavior is tracked, shared, and used.” Sadly, the Digital Advertising Alliance believes in putting advertisers first and has already complained that browser makers should not enable Do Not Track by default. Say what you will about Microsoft, but the company is right about this one. People always come first. Always.

There were a lot of people expecting a big Microsoft splash at the Apple-centric D10 Conference this week, but with Skype CEO Tony Bates as the only (sort of) Microsoft executive in attendance, I knew that wouldn’t happen. Bates didn’t let me down. He vaguely praised Microsoft, the ongoing efforts to integrate Skype into every single Microsoft product on Earth, and Windows Phone, sure. But he didn’t say anything of substance, and the net takeaway was that—one year after Microsoft’s mammoth $8.5 billion purchase of Skype—the two companies have done exactly jack squat. “We're going to double-down on integration with Windows 8,” he said, whatever that means. As for Windows Phone, Bates said that he wouldn’t describe the platform as the one that’s “most important” to Skype (a ringing endorsement) but that it was “very exciting because of that people-centric nature.” Yawning yet? No? Bates says he “hopes” Skype can “add value” to Windows Phone—no promises, now—and then went on to say that mobile, generally, was the most important market to Skype. Not Windows Phone, mind you. Mobile. Looks like someone didn’t get the memo. But just in case you thought Bates was the most clueless person on stage that day, I’ll point you to D10’s Kara Swisher, who appears to have about as much tech acumen as my mother. She actually asked Bates if he thought he’d run Microsoft one day. So Bates joked about how Microsoft’s Kinect wasn’t even a “goal” of his for the year. OK, I gotta walk away from this one.

Apple Still Dominates … Chinese Workers

Speaking of D10, the grandparents of tech—Walter Mossberg and Ms. Swisher—correctly came under fire this week for having Apple CEO Tim Cook on stage and fawning over him like a demigod instead of holding his feet to the fire for his company’s human rights abuses in China. And while Cook may have gotten off Scott free at D10, the timing of a new report this week by Students and Scholars Against Corporate Misbehavior (SACOM) won’t be as easy to ignore. According to the report, absolutely nothing has changed at the Chinese factories that make all of Apple’s hardware products despite a lot of rhetoric from the consumer electronics giant and Cook earlier in the year. Workers in Shenzhen and Zhengzhou are still subject to long shifts, low pay, routine humiliation, dangerous work conditions, and cramped and harsh dormitory conditions. But hey, at least they’re making those pretty iPads. The factories—which are owned by Foxconn and also make significantly fewer products for companies like Microsoft, Nokia, Sony, and others—came to some infamy last year after a spate of suicides led to the mainstream media finally taking note. As for Apple, no worries: Despite roughly 50 percent margins, it has no plans to stop making its electronics in the cheapest place on Earth.

Google Files EU Patent Complaint Against Microsoft and Nokia

Google on Thursday filed a complaint with antitrust regulators in the European Commission (EC), alleging that Microsoft and Nokia are patent trolls that are “colluding” to raise the prices of mobile devices. Which is rich coming from the company that steals other companies’ technologies and gives them away for free in Android. But I digress. “Nokia and Microsoft should be held accountable, and we hope our complaint spurs others to look into these practices,” a Google spokesperson said, apparently unaware that the exact same phrase has been used against Google. That’s OK, Microsoft will set Google straight. “Google is complaining about patents when it won't respond to growing concerns by regulators, elected officials, and judges about its abuse of standard-essential patents, and it is complaining about antitrust in the smartphone industry when it controls more than 95 percent of mobile search and advertising,” a Microsoft statement notes. (You’ll have to picture the “dripping in sarcasm” stuff for yourself.) Meanwhile, Nokia—which, like Microsoft, and unlike Google, has actually been investing in its own intellectual property for decades—basically laughed off the complaint and “avoided wasting the commission's time and resources on such a frivolous complaint.” Yep, that’s pretty much how I see this one too. Moving on.

Back in February, I was able to confirm a report in PocketNow that described numerous new features in Windows Phone 8, the coming Windows 8-based version of Microsoft’s smartphone platform. (See Windows Phone 8 Preview for details.) And though I knew then that Windows Phone 8 would support four different display resolutions, what I didn’t—still don’t—know is which resolutions it would support. But this week, Daniel Rubino of WPCentral makes a compelling case for what he believes these resolutions to be: 640 x 480, 800 x 480 (the current resolution of Windows Phone 7), 1280 x 720, and 1280 x 768. I’m surprised one of those isn’t 1366 x 768, the “optimal” resolution of Windows 8 PCs and devices. But I’m even more surprised that one of them is lower than the current Windows Phone 7 resolution, given the complaints about how today’s Windows Phone handsets somehow don’t match up well against higher-resolution iPhones and Android handsets. (That’s a BS argument, but whatever.) Anyway, we should know soon: Microsoft is holding a Windows Phone 8 developer event later this month.

Listen to Paul. No, Really Listen. Or Watch. Or Both!

For the second week in a row, my podcast schedule got a bit mixed up. Leo Laporte, Mary Jo Foley, and I recorded a new episode of the Windows Weekly podcast on Thursday at the regular time. And then Andrew Zarian and I recorded the latest episode of the What The Tech podcast later in the afternoon, two days later than usual. As always, these episodes should be available soon, generally in both audio in video formats, on the web, and via iTunes, the Zune Marketplace, and wherever else quality podcasts are found. You can also find all of my podcast activities on the SuperSite for Windows.

The Paul Thurrott Mobile App: Is That a Paul in Your Pocket?

The Paul Thurrott: Pocket Tech app is now available for both the iPhone and Windows Phone, bringing all of my technical content to your favorite mobile device in a fun, on-the-go format. We'll have an Android version available soon as well, I'm told. And who knows? A Windows 8 app would make plenty of sense too. Download for Windows Phone - Download for iPhone

" I guess Paul's numbers were down for May so he's trying to pick them back up for June. This article is troll bait, troll bait and more troll bait."
Yah. The thing about Apple's Chinese factories is classic. This is the same Paul who revels in the Mac's 4% (or whatever the number is) marketshare, which means that 96% of computer hardware is made in the very same Chinese factories under the very same conditions, but no word of condemnation for Delll, Lenovo, HP, et al. This is the same Paul who tells us how Android is "winning" because the sell more units than Apple; units that are made in, you guessed it the very same Chinese factories under the very same conditions.
So, anything Apple does is EVIL. Hey, it's because they're ---APPLE---- and we KNOW they're EVIL. But when anyone else (everyone else) does the same thing, and on a much larger scale, it's not even worth mentioning.
But, hypocrisy is the guy's main trait.

"Your statement that all computers and phones are manufactured in China is not accurate."
I said Apple makes a small fraction of the total units shipped of PCs, cell phones and about 60% of tablets, but that tablets are 1/6th the size of the PC market. Regardless of where they're made, the question is one of labor conditions. Making this an "apple problem" addresses less than 10% of the real issue.
" LG, Sony, and Toshiba are but three big companies that do not manufacture in China. "
Totally false. 30 seconds of research will show that to be true.
http://www.productfrom.com/company/2/0/CN,0,0/1/
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070920044722AAnI07H
http://toshiba.pissedconsumer.com/beware-toshiba-made-in-china-now-20080924136756.html
"I would imagine that some of components do come from China, but I don't know for sure. I'm not gonna beat up on Apple. I'm just telling you this so the next time it comes up you are more informed."
Yes, the supply chain issue is complex and trans-national. I appreciate the concern :) but I thinkI'm pretty well informed.
"Quick - point to where I said this was all Apple's fault. I'll wait here."
I didn't say that. I asked a question about your opinion. I said that PAUL wants it to be all Apple's fault, but then his pathological whenever the discussion is about Apple.
And having said that I don't do tit-for-tat, this is way too much in that direction, so you gentlemen feel free to have the last word.

"Pick a stat and stick with it. It's not just computer hardware, but tablets and phones as well."
If you would, I dunno, READ the post, you'd notice that I mentioned both computers and phones. If you're really so comprehension challenged, here's a reference:
http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/02/03/with-8-7-market-share-apple-has-75-of-cell-phone-profits/
Showing Apple with 8.75% marketshare in phones. So, 93% of the phones being made are not Apple phones. But, you'll never hear Paul, or his flock of ditto heads note that Apple accounts for only 1/16th of the factory output in China.
Apple is 1/20 of computer manufacturing units and 1/16th of phones. But, let's beat up Apple and ignore the rest.
I know, facts are SO inconvenient, aren't they?

@chuck:
"This is the same Paul who revels in the Mac's 4% (or whatever the number is) marketshare, which means that 96% of computer hardware is made in the very same Chinese factories..."
Pick a stat and stick with it. It's not just computer hardware, but tablets and phones as well. And if you're going to talk about wanting to count the iPad as a PC, then you should include that in the marketshare as well.

@chuck:
Quick - point to where I said this was all Apple's fault. I'll wait here.
The point I was making regarding your numbers was that you were also leaving off one of the biggest areas that Apple dominates, and your Android comment was passing at best (or at least that's how I interpreted it). You're diminishing Apple's role here.
What I will say regarding Apple is they're the one with the largest profit margins and the lowest manufacturing costs. They're the industry leader when it comes to manufacturing processes. They should also be the industry leader in workplace safety.
That paragraph does not in any way remove responsibility from any other manufacturer.

@chuck-
"If you would, I dunno, READ the post, you'd notice that I mentioned both computers and phones. If you're really so comprehension challenged, here's a reference:"
I did READ[emphasis yours] the post. You did not mention computers and phones. You said:
"Yah. The thing about Apple's Chinese factories is classic. This is the same Paul who revels in the Mac's 4% (or whatever the number is) marketshare, which means that 96% of computer hardware is made in the very same Chinese factories under the very same conditions, but no word of condemnation for Delll, Lenovo, HP, et al. This is the same Paul who tells us how Android is "winning" because the sell more units than Apple; units that are made in, you guessed it the very same Chinese factories under the very same conditions."
And if Apple has 8.75% of the marketshare of mobile phones, that leaves 91%, not 93%.
I know.... facts are "SO" inconvenient, aren't they?
And you've still not as of yet mentioned tablets.

@Meh,
The reference in my original post referring to Android is about phones. What else uses Android? No tablets to speak of.
Yes, I rounded it wrong. 91%, not 93%. Doesn't materially change the conclusion. If that's the best you've got, give it up.
We can pick nits and get into the ridiculous back and forth that Infiniteloop and tayme do, but it doesn't change the conclusion:
If you (or Paul) want to criticize Apple's manufacturing operations in China, that's fine. However, you are neglecting something over 90% of the problem which comes from manufacturing operations that are not Apple. Go read the reference I cited. Apple is a relatively low volume manufacturer in the phone space, quite small in the PC space and about 60% in tablets. But, tablets are about (this is from memory) about 1/6th the size of the current PC market (Paul loves to repeat this), so there is just no way you can make the Chinese sweatshop issue about Apple.
It would please me to see the entire problem addressed. Paul (and you? Really?) just want to use this as an issue to beat up on Apple. It's starkly hypocritical.

There's not much entertainment value here this week folks.
For real entertainment and a lesson in how to suck up to your overlords to the point of nausea, read Paul's surprisingly upbeat, incandescent and gushing review of Windows 8.
I should think that little piece should keep the cheques rolling in from Redmond for quite a while Paul. Even though you say very little about the supposed benefits of the new OS.

@chuckb84 Your statement that all computers and phones are manufactured in China is not accurate. LG, Sony, and Toshiba are but three big companies that do not manufacture in China. I would imagine that some of components do come from China, but I don't know for sure. I'm not gonna beat up on Apple. I'm just telling you this so the next time it comes up you are more informed.
Of course, one benefit of not using Apple products is that you can seek out devices that are not made in sweatshops, if that's important to you. With Apple you don't have this option.